Nov 24, 2010

Bapu's Reply To GENEXT

Dear Gen Next

Thank you very much for your letter. I was moved. It is the best letter I've received in these 63 years. I'm happy you think so much and so very well for the country.

After independence, we have made quite a few mistakes. We should have entered into a 100 year no war pact with our neighbours and put our money on education. Good education makes human beings out of Man. Where are the human beings?

Then they should have attracted best of men and women into teaching. The best went to IFS and ICS (later IAS) and the worst in general went into teaching. After 63 cycles how much better can the how-much-worse produce? It is, I'm afraid, almost a total rot. They hold the degrees sans education, sans good sense.

Good education would have minimised other problems like health-care and poverty.

India is still a land of plenty -- plenty of men and women, plenty of youth energy and enthusiasm, plenty of water, plenty of money, plenty of food, but plenty of villainy and corruption, And, therefore, plenty of poverty and vice.

I think good education is cure-all.

And, I've laid down the blue-print of good education in my Nai Taleem. The Indian students in the 50's used to read an abridged version of that as a rapid reader at school.

I'll come back to this later,

You wish I came there for a day to clarify some points. The answers are there in my literature. Or, you can go to Agnivesh, Dominic Emmanuel, Waheeduddin and Ramdev -- just to name a few. Some true Gandhians are still there. But they are sidelined for convenience.

Materialism isn't bad. But you should strike a healthy balance between the material and the spiritual. To attain this you should have a sound body and a sound mind. Spirit will then take care of itself. I've said all this in Nai Taleem. I'm happy Ramdev Baba is doing a good job.

Look at the pot bellies of some of the Netas, officers, even policemen and priests! Their bellies tell all the inside story. Have you seen a saint with a paunch and a bad guy without one?

I'm happy with the gen next. They are showing promise. But I'm peeved; most of you are skinny, or else, obese. Most of you can't solve problems yourselves. This is the result of bad parenting and bad education. Playground is in fact a training ground for problem solving, it is a pity, most boys and girls don't play.

I wish boys and girls of gen next develop personalities. Personality development is not a matter of a short course or a package. It is an on-going process at home, in school, in college and in office.

This brings me back to good education. Good education helps you to find out yourself and make a place for yourself in this world. Bad education works like a factory to produce brands. It is examination oriented. It hinders personal growth. It promotes hypocrisy and hampers honesty. It does not let you think. It burdens you with knowledge and information not really needed in day-to-day practical life. It turns you into a coolie. He carries the baggage for you but doesn't know what is inside.

I wish you all get good education and be good honest men and women. India needs good human beings.